Greenberg et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 4,401,677 disclose that various mercaptoalkanoyl .alpha.-amino acids are useful analgesic agents due to their enkephalinase inhibition activity.
Ondetti et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 4,053,651 disclose that various mercaptoalkanoyl and acylmercaptoalkanoyl .alpha.-aminoacids are useful hypotensive agents due to their angiotensin converting enzyme inhibition activity.
Roques et al. (Nature, Vol. 288, November 1980, p. 286-288) disclose that thiorphan, [(D,L)-3-mercapto-2-benzylpropanoyl]glycine, is an inhibitor of enkephalinase in vitro in nanomolar concentrations and in vivo after either intracerebroventricular or systemic administration.
Roques et al. (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (U.S.A.) Vol. 80, 1983, p. 3178-3182) disclose thiorphan and its retro-inverso isomer, and their activity as inhibitors of enkephalinase.
Roques et al. in European patent application No. 38,758 disclose various .alpha.-amino acid derivatives including mercaptoalkanoyl and acylmercaptoalkanoyl derivatives as possessing enkephalinase inhibition activity.
Mumford et al. (Biochemical and Biophysical Research Comm., Vol. 109, No. 4, 1982, p. 1303-1309) disclose that various substituted N-carboxymethyl dipeptides including those having a terminal .beta.-alanine group possess enkephalinase inhibition activity.
Berger et al. in European patent application No. 54,862 disclose enkephalinase inhibiting peptides having the structural formula ##STR5## wherein R.sub.b is a carboxylic or phosphonic acid or ester and y is 0, 1, 2 or 3.
Cushman et al. (Biochemistry, Vol. 16, No. 25, 1977, p. 5484-5491) disclose various carboxyalkanoyl and mercaptoalkanoyl amino acids as angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors. Among the compounds disclosed is ##STR6## Sundeen et al. in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,235,885 and 4,297,275 disclose mammalian collagenase inhibitors including mercaptoalkanoyl and acylmercaptoalkanoyl compounds having the structural formula ##STR7## wherein m is zero or an integer from 1 to 9, R.sub.g can be, inter alia, hydrogen and R.sub.h can be inter alia, hydroxy and amino.
Sundeen et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 4,327,111 disclose mammalian collagenase inhibitors including mercaptoalkanoyl and acylmercaptoalkanoyl compounds of the formula ##STR8## wherein R.sub.k is hydrogen, alkyl or aryl, n is an integer from 1 to 20, and R.sub.j is alkyl of 3 to 8 carbons, cycloalkyl of 3 to 7 carbons, aryl, or arylalkyl.